I am on the same journey and quest to become a Remarkable Retailer that you are on…and have tried many different approaches to get organized once and for all! This is an ongoing quest and although I wish I could say that I have conquered all when it comes to being the most productive retailer on the planet… well, let’s just say that I have never been nominated for that award!

Theme Your Work Week Monday – Financials

Theming Your Work Week

I listen to many podcasts, read books relentlessly, and love to listen to speakers teach about how to get more done in the time that we are all allotted, and kept hearing various speakers talk about Block Scheduling or Theming Your Work Week. Several months ago, I took a few minutes and wrote out a list of the essential things that only I could do to push our business forward. This became the focus for the “Themes” for each of my work days. I will say, that although not perfect, it has been extremely helpful to keep me focused on getting the most important work done each day! By blocking out units of time and “spending” that time wisely, you absolutely WILL get more done in a day!

168 Hours

168 Everyone on the planet has the exact same amount of hours in each of their weeks… one hundred sixty eight of them. How we choose to “spend” them is up to us! We all need sleep, family time, social time, and work time. In this series we are going to focus on getting the MOST from our work hours. Of course, everyone of us has different tasks and priorities, so you will need to adjust your week so that your time works for YOU, not the other way around!

Theming Your Work Days Several months ago I implemented a simple technique that has helped me become more efficient, get more done in a day and makes my life a little less hectic. It’s called theming your days. I am going to share exactly how I have set up my week to run, so we’ll start with Monday. Again, you will need to adjust this to fit your needs.

Monday: Financial Focus Today we’re going to focus on Monday’s theme: Financials. Now, this might be the part of your business that really gets you excited, but it is NOT my favorite thing! Here are some of the things that I focus on on Mondays.

Payroll Payroll information is due to our accountant by noon every other Monday, so this get’s top priority. Every two weeks, this is also the day that I work on the next month’s schedule for our staff members. I look at how many payroll hours I have budgeted for the next month and adjust if necessary. When I know how many payroll hours I have to “spend” it helps to keep it under control!

Accountants Payable Get Bills ready to pay – Our bookkeeper, Amy comes in on Monday afternoons to write checks for the week. She does a fabulous job, and I am so blessed to have her on our team…however, for many years, I was the one gathering and matching up packing lists and invoices, then writing the checks, so if this is your situation, I know exactly what you are needing to do. I really want to encourage you to do this all on one day of the week. In our case, Monday, since that is our financial day.

Bank Accounts Each and every Monday, I take a look at our Bank Accounts online – We really should be looking at our accounts more than just once each week, but on Monday, it is on the list and it gets done!

Credit Cards

Credit Cards Don’t let yourself get caught off guard with bogus credit card charges. On Monday, take an online look at the charges that have been put on your card in the last week. This way if something looks suspicious, you can take care of it right away.

Sales & Goal Setting I take a hard look at our sales recap from the prior week, and compare to the previous year…are we trending up or down? Was the weather a factor? Did we have a similar event that brought people in? Where are our numbers for the quarter? Year to date? Previous year comparison?

Sales goals should always be top of mind, so we are looking at them daily! Let your team know where they stand in relation to the goals that you have set for sales. I do have a form that we track our daily sales on, and would be happy to share it with you…just send me a request via email: Vicki@RemarkableRetailer.com. I have 3 ring binders with several years sales totals, and go back 3 years when setting our new sales goals.

Professional Accountant I meet with our CPA about once a month and if we can possibly meet on a Monday, even better! After years of doing everything by myself, I now have our accountant balance our bank statements, write payroll checks and file payroll and other types of taxes. I have tried very hard to free myself up to do work that I am truly passionate about (like marketing, customer service, etc), and hand over things that I am not very gifted at to professionals who can do it faster and much more accurately than I ever could!

If you are still doing all of this yourself, I would really encourage you to check the facts as to how reasonably you can have these types of services done professionally. I would be happy to talk to you personally about going through this process…just give me a call!

Ordering Product We also place orders for merchandise on Monday. After a busy weekend, while things are still fresh in our mind, plus many of our vendors can ship right away and we’ll have the product by Wednesday or Thursday – just in time for next weekend’s sales.

Stack of Mail

Email and Snail Mail Monday is also a day for tackling the email inbox, the real mailbox, and to get re-organized from the previous week. I don’t know about you but it seems like things can really pile up after a busy weekend! I like to personally go through our mail, but if I am tied up, another staff member can open all of the envelopes, stack up the mail, and it will be much quicker for you to go through.Just as important is…What should I NOT be doing on Monday? Once you commit to Theming Your Work Days… you should NOT be jumping between social media sites, running to the post office, rearranging the store, etc. Monday is the day that you close your office door and concentrate on the dollars. I find that I am fresh and focused on Monday and that is the best day for me to be sharply intentional about the financial future of our business!

Be Intentional Without that intentionality, you can go months without balancing your checkbook, forget to file sales tax, payroll tax or other important paperwork. It seems that for many entrepreneurs I visit with, this is one of their weaknesses, so they procrastinate (and Oh! My! I have been there!). Are you a business professional or a hobbyist? Focusing on the Financials is the ONE thing that could very well mean the difference to you being in business five years from now!

The POWER of THEMING Remember: the Power of Theming is that you’re not skipping from one task to a totally unrelated one – don’t let unexpected tasks break your theme focus. You’ll get it done, it just might not be for another couple of hours or a day later in the week! For me, getting the Financials done on Monday, clears up my week so I can move on to other things that I am more passionate about!

Thank you for joining us today for this episode of “Remarkable Retailer.” I hope you’ve found some tips, tools and tactics for taking your business to the next level.

You can find replays from this series on our Periscope Replay Page:www.Vimeo.com/VickiAdrian Look for episodes 118 – 123 for the Theming Your Work Week Series.

Until next time…Remember, you always have choices in life… Choose to be Remarkable!

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About Me

I am passionate about helping Entrepreneurs and Retailers reach the next level in creating a successful business using Relationship Marketing, Email Marketing, and Social Media Marketing on this amazing journey!
With over 30 years experience as a retailer in a small community, I have developed skills and methods designed to build your TRIBE of outstanding clients and bring them through your doors!